Go to MicrosoftPlatformReady.com,
choose your location (only US is eligible for $250 contest) and sign in using
your Live ID. Fill in the form, making sure to specify Code Project for the
How did you hear about MPR? question:
Click Save and Submit to continue.
Next, add your application to MPR and fill the form, noting
that the Microsoft Platform(s) used by your application include Windows Azure
Platform (Windows Azure, SQL Azure & App Fabric). Then, click on the Test
tab. You’ll need to download and install the Microsoft Platform Ready Test
Tool, which you’ll find a link to once you click on the Test My Apps link on
the left.
Install the test tool and run it. Give your test a name and
select Windows Azure as the technology in use, then click Next.
Now click the Edit… link in the Details column. Here you
will need to provide your subscription ID, your certificate file (that we
created above), and optionally the URL to your application.
You’ll find your subscription ID in the Azure Portal on the
right, as well as listed with your Management Certificate.
Once you’ve selected your subscription ID and certificate,
click the Verify button. You should see this:
Close this window and then click Next. Your Test
Prerequisites should say Pass now. Click Next to move on to test execution.
Now you will need to verify that your application works correctly. This is not
automated – it’s up to you to perform this test. When completed, click the Yes
checkbox and then click Next.
Ideally you should now see a Test Result of Pass. If you
didn’t set up a storage account, you may see a test failure noting that your
account does not have a storage account associated with it. In that case,
shame on you for not following direction – go back and add one, then repeat the
steps to run the test. Click Next.
Now we’re almost done. You can view the test results, but
note that the test results file is not what you are going to upload to the
Microsoft Platform Ready web site. Trust me, I tried, it doesn’t work. To
submit the results of your test to Microsoft, you need to click on the Reports
button in the screen below.
Choose the passing test that you want to package, then click
Next.
Click Next again on the resulting screen, and then enter in
your Application Name and Version on the next screen. Click Next again. Now,
check the Create Test Results Package checkbox and provide a name for the
package, but more importantly, enter in the Application ID from the Microsoft
Platform Ready web page. Fill in the rest of the form and click Next.
After a few seconds, you should see the Finish screen:
On the MPR web page, click the Choose File button, navigate
to the Test Results Package Location shown in the Finish screen of the test
tool, and upload the test results package.
Next you should see that the upload was successful and the
results are queued for processing. Click Refresh after a bit, and you should
see something like this showing your Passing test.
Now you’re ready to request your $250. Take a screenshot of
the entire page showing the Test tab and the View My Reports tab showing that
your application passes. Then fill out this email template with your company
information and paste/attach the screenshot to the email, and send it in. If
you have questions about this offer, please
review the terms and conditions here.
Congratulations! You just created and verified your first
Windows Azure application!
